Claroquesi
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 8, 2005
- Messages
- 158
Just back from a 7 day 8 night stay at Swan. Just dh and myself. Park hoppers no dining plan.
Here is what we noticed:
1) The sponsors of the DIS transportation site who brought us to Disney were well worth the money. They were professional and personable. They provide a service well worth the money, I recommend them wholeheartedly, as does DISboards.
2) Swan was actually really nice if you can get past the non Disney theme.We can because location is more important to us. We found the value for money to be excellent.Staff overall was very good, housekeeping was meh, but the pool was sooo nice we never even felt the desire to pool hop(I said DESIRE people, holster your flame throwers). Best of all, we never, ever had to wait for an elevator.
3) EPCOT- much the same as the other years we have gone, and we think highly of this park. We were disappointed at the selection of food at Cantina San Angel being so limited, but DH loved the new Midnight margarita. I was displeased that the shepherds pie was offered only in vegetarian at dinner, and the dinner pie was not of the same quality as I remember (the main complaint being the seasoning of the lamb). I enjoyed chocolate from France and Italy.The Italian margarita btw is the NEW Grey Goose Slushy, check it out, it may be the best thing ever.
DH did the Segway tour at EPCOT. He felt it was a good value for the money and not something we would have tried, if not for the recommendations of the board. He would do this again and even pointed some things out in the world showcase I had never seen because of his tour.
4) Magic Kingdom-I did EMH every time I went and went three times this trip. During that time I rode everything at least twice. We were disappointed with our guides on the Jungle Cruise, who seemed to be phoning it in. We really liked the new Hall of Presidents, although my history buff husband missed being able to point out Buchanan, he was so distracted by Obama.
We only ate at Pecos Bills, we had some trouble with the touch screen ordering,but found the cheese fries delectable.
5) Boardwalk- It is faster to walk from Swan to EPCOT past the Boardwalk. We always enjoy the shops at Boardwalk, the CMs at the bakery and candy shop are always excellent. We ate at Big River which was good, and several times at ESPN Zone. I haven't liked that restaurant much in the past, but this trip had excellent experiences each time we went. The only complaint I had was the DVC sales people on the Boardwalk gave a really hard sell, much harder then we are used to. Be prepared to say no, they will make it hard to say it....
6)DHS-Meh...After three tries and 30 min we finally got to ride toy story mania. We were glad we didn't wait the 100, 90 and 120 minutes they had posted before we got there on EMH. They don't have the flour less chocolate torte at the Brown Derby Bakery anymore...it is my favorite snack.We only rode the TOT once and the RRC twice (single rider). Overall, DHS seemed overly crowded, small, and poorly laid out. This was more evident and frustrating than usual.
7) Hoop-De-Doo- Birthday surprise for me!! Always a favorite and did not fail to disappoint. Food was good and I love the corny songs!
8) Animal Kingdom- Got up, went to EMH, Rode Safari, saw animals, went home. AK never has held much interest for us beyond the safari. We spent less than 40 min in the park. This is a personal thing....
9) Crowds-Brazilians were there and were noticeable, but more noticeable were the yahoos, and they were in greater abundance than the Brazilians.Yahoos were by far the more annoying part of the trip. Mullets everywhere
!
10)DTD- Crowded, but WPE pizza is not to be missed, so whats a girl to do? Didn't find the same range of unique merchandise in the shops as I was used to, but many more items were on sale.
11) Weather- Hot hot hot with 100% chance of humidity. It's July in Florida.
12) Overall- I'm exhausted
but I had a great time. I did everything I wanted to do. Next time I would take an entire day off from the parks, go to Jelly Rolls one night, stay at the Swan again, take DH to Universal and eat big breakfasts and no lunches.
Here is what we noticed:
1) The sponsors of the DIS transportation site who brought us to Disney were well worth the money. They were professional and personable. They provide a service well worth the money, I recommend them wholeheartedly, as does DISboards.
2) Swan was actually really nice if you can get past the non Disney theme.We can because location is more important to us. We found the value for money to be excellent.Staff overall was very good, housekeeping was meh, but the pool was sooo nice we never even felt the desire to pool hop(I said DESIRE people, holster your flame throwers). Best of all, we never, ever had to wait for an elevator.
3) EPCOT- much the same as the other years we have gone, and we think highly of this park. We were disappointed at the selection of food at Cantina San Angel being so limited, but DH loved the new Midnight margarita. I was displeased that the shepherds pie was offered only in vegetarian at dinner, and the dinner pie was not of the same quality as I remember (the main complaint being the seasoning of the lamb). I enjoyed chocolate from France and Italy.The Italian margarita btw is the NEW Grey Goose Slushy, check it out, it may be the best thing ever.
DH did the Segway tour at EPCOT. He felt it was a good value for the money and not something we would have tried, if not for the recommendations of the board. He would do this again and even pointed some things out in the world showcase I had never seen because of his tour.
4) Magic Kingdom-I did EMH every time I went and went three times this trip. During that time I rode everything at least twice. We were disappointed with our guides on the Jungle Cruise, who seemed to be phoning it in. We really liked the new Hall of Presidents, although my history buff husband missed being able to point out Buchanan, he was so distracted by Obama.
We only ate at Pecos Bills, we had some trouble with the touch screen ordering,but found the cheese fries delectable.
5) Boardwalk- It is faster to walk from Swan to EPCOT past the Boardwalk. We always enjoy the shops at Boardwalk, the CMs at the bakery and candy shop are always excellent. We ate at Big River which was good, and several times at ESPN Zone. I haven't liked that restaurant much in the past, but this trip had excellent experiences each time we went. The only complaint I had was the DVC sales people on the Boardwalk gave a really hard sell, much harder then we are used to. Be prepared to say no, they will make it hard to say it....
6)DHS-Meh...After three tries and 30 min we finally got to ride toy story mania. We were glad we didn't wait the 100, 90 and 120 minutes they had posted before we got there on EMH. They don't have the flour less chocolate torte at the Brown Derby Bakery anymore...it is my favorite snack.We only rode the TOT once and the RRC twice (single rider). Overall, DHS seemed overly crowded, small, and poorly laid out. This was more evident and frustrating than usual.
7) Hoop-De-Doo- Birthday surprise for me!! Always a favorite and did not fail to disappoint. Food was good and I love the corny songs!
8) Animal Kingdom- Got up, went to EMH, Rode Safari, saw animals, went home. AK never has held much interest for us beyond the safari. We spent less than 40 min in the park. This is a personal thing....
9) Crowds-Brazilians were there and were noticeable, but more noticeable were the yahoos, and they were in greater abundance than the Brazilians.Yahoos were by far the more annoying part of the trip. Mullets everywhere
! 10)DTD- Crowded, but WPE pizza is not to be missed, so whats a girl to do? Didn't find the same range of unique merchandise in the shops as I was used to, but many more items were on sale.
11) Weather- Hot hot hot with 100% chance of humidity. It's July in Florida.
12) Overall- I'm exhausted
but I had a great time. I did everything I wanted to do. Next time I would take an entire day off from the parks, go to Jelly Rolls one night, stay at the Swan again, take DH to Universal and eat big breakfasts and no lunches.
